It! (short story)
Write the first paragraph of your page here. Section heading IT Real Name: Roger Kirk Identity/Class: Reanimated human corpse/vegatation mutateOccupation: Swamp monsterGroup Membership: None Affiliations: NoneEnemies: Alton Drew, Babe Drew, Cory Drew, Kimbo, "Little Man in Black"Known Relatives: unnamed grandson Aliases: "The Thing That Couldn’t Die" Base of Operations: Unknown, a rural community somewhere in the U.S. First Appearance: Supernatural Thrillers#1 (December, 1972); (adapted from short story "It" by Theodore Sturgeon) Powers/Abilities: It was a composite being, of nothing but mud, mold and other foliage from a forest bottom surrounding a human skeleton. It had some sentience, and could learn from experience. It’s body was somewhat shapeless, within the confines of its host skeleton, and could adjust its shape as needed. History: (Supernatural Thrillers#1 (fb)-BTS) – Sometime in 1929, around the time of the stock market crash, Roger Kirk died of unknown causes in a forest thicket. (Supernatural Thrillers#1 (fb)-BTS) – Before he died, Kirk’s grandson wrote a will granting his family’s fortune to whomever could find Kirk’s body. (Supernatural Thrillers#1) – Under unknown circumstances, the growth around Kirk’s skeleton formed into the shape of a being, and became “somewhat” alive. Shortly after coming into existence, It began to kill things around it, first plants and trees, then small animals. Soon, it crossed paths with a dog named Kimbo, and ripped it to shreds. When night came, It did not understand the concept, thinking it was dead again, and tried to re-merge with the ground. During that time, Alton Drew walked over it searching for his dog, Kimbo. At morning, It realized it was not dead, and in its odd thinking, went to see if the dog too was not dead anymore. When it returned to the scene, it encountered Alton, who was waiting for whatever had killed his pet. Shots proved futile against the creature, and It killed Alton as well. Shortly after, it came across a little man in black who had been searching for the remains of Kirk, and scared him off. Cory Drew, Alton’s brother, found his remains, and began searching for the killer, only to realize at the same time that it was following the footsteps of Cory’s daughter, Babe. While out playing, Babe was confronted by the creature, and tried to hide in a small cul-de-sac in a rock wall. It pulled her from it, interested in her screams, but soon lost concern, and went on to explore other things. Babe took the opportunity to run, diving into a stream. She grabbed a rock and hurled it at the monster, knocking it too into the water. Perplexed by its new surroundings, It lay at the bottom of the stream, attempting to learn more about it. The rushing water, though, began to wash the muck from the skeleton, returning it to lifelessness. A posse hunting Alton’s killer eventually found it, and Cory Drew’s family received the money promised in the will. Comments: Created by Theodore Sturgeon, adapted by Roy Thomas, Marie Severin and Frank Giacoia. Based on a short novelette by acclaimed writer Theodore Sturgeon, which was originally published in 1948, "It" is obviously the basis for Man-Thing, DC’s Swamp Thing, and just about every other muck monster, although all of the above can be seen as offshoots of two other comic book creatures that pre-dated Sturgeon's novel: The Heap, which first appeared in Air Fighters Comics#3 (December 1942 - published by Hillman), and Solomon Grundy, who first appeared in All-American Comics#61 (1944, revived by DC). Also, because this story is adapted from an original story, it is not necessarily contained within the Earth-616 reality. Perhaps it is, and was a precursor for the Man-Thing. I’m not sure where the story is set, the comic never says (If anyone knows if the story does, let me know, I’ll revise this). The alias "the Thing That Couldn’t Die" is only used on the cover of the comic.The story was reprinted in the black-and-white magazine Masters of Terror#1 in 1975.Profile by Madison Carter Clarifications: It has no known connection to: I.T., operation of Roxxon, @Fantastic Four I #160IT, The Living Colossus, giant statue controlled by Bob O'Bryan, @Tales of Suspense I#14It, The Silent One, robot, Namor foe, @Tales To Astonish I#92ITT, series of powerful+virtually indestructible synthetic entities controlled by skrull empress, Fantastic Four I#247The Thing Called It, another muck monster, Strange Tales I#82any other "it" charactersAlton Drew Alton Drew was a farmer who employed his brother, Cory. After Alton's dog, Kimbo was killed by It, he went into the forest to find it, and was killed as well. --Supernatural Thrillers#1 Babe Drew The daughter of Cory Drew, Babe frolicked in the forest until encountering it. Believing it to be the boogeyman, she tried to run from it, and caused it to fall into a creek. Afterwards, she spent much time recovering from the shock, but never fully. --Supernatural Thrillers#1 Cory Drew Cory lived on his brother's farm, and secretly resented working for him. After the skeleton of Roger Kirk was found, his family received a large sum of money. --Supernatural Thrillers#1 Kimbo Kimbo was Alton Drew's pet dog, and was killed in a confrontation with It. --Supernatural Thrillers#1 "Little Man in Black" "The Little Man in Black" arrived in the area to try to locate Kirk's remains and claim his family's fortune. He was accidentally shot in the arm by Cory Drew. He was later confronted by It, and ran screaming. --Supernatural Thrillers#1 images: Supernatural Thrillers#1, page 21, panel 1 (It) page 30, panel 6 (Kirk's skeleton) page 5, panel 2 (Alton) page 12, panel 2 (Babe) page 5, panel 1 (Cory) page 3, panel 5 (Kimbo) page 15, panel 2 (Little Man in Black) Last updated: 12/05/13 Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know. Non-Marvel Copyright infoAll other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing! Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com/ Section heading "It!" is an influential horror short story by Theodore Sturgeon, first published in Unknown August 1940. The story deals with a plant monster that is ultimately revealed to have formed around a human skeleton, specifically that of Roger Kirk, in a swamp. P. Schuyler Miller described "It!" as "probably the most unforgettable story ever published in Unknown. ""Book Reviews", Astounding Science Fiction, September 1949, p.151 Similar characters The story's seminal nature is indicated by the plant-based swamp monsters that appeared in various comicbooks. Among these characters are Hillman Comics' Heap in Airboy Comics, who debuted in what was intended as a one-time appearance in the feature "Skywolf" in Air Fighters #3 (Dec. 1942). Created by writer Harry Stein and artist Mort Leav, the Heap became a popular character in return appearances and later an ongoing solo feature. Early depictions of the Heap look highly similar to the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies character Gossamer, an orange-furred, practically featureless monster in sneakers who menaced Bugs Bunny in the 1946 animated short "Hair-Raising Hare" before going on to other appearances (named "Rudolph" in one). Solomon Grundy in All-American Comics is the result of a criminal having fallen in a swamp, though he did not have a plantlike appearance. Sturgeon's story continued to show influence after the relaxation of the Comics Code Authority's restrictions on horror late in 1971. Man-Thing first appeared (in an unrestricted black and white magazine-size comic) from Marvel Comics in May 1971, and DC Comics introduced Swamp Thing in the anthology comic House of Secrets #92 in June 1971. A different character, based upon the House of Secrets story, also called Swamp Thing debuted in issue #1 of its own title (November 1971) after popular response to the original story. Gerry Conway and Len Wein, the writers who created Man-Thing and Swamp Thing respectively, were good friends and roommates at the time but did not discuss their work with each other. Marvel also published an adaptation of the original story in Supernatural Thrillers #1.http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/ittheodoresturgeon. htm Tony Isabella and Roy Thomas were asked by Marvel's editors to consider an ongoing series with Sturgeon's swamp creature, but they felt the similarity to Marvel's own title, Man-Thing would create conflicts. The 1980s saw the introduction of Bog Swamp Demon and two Swamp Thing movies, as well as Dave Sim's Man-Thing and Swamp Thing parodies, Woman-Thing and Sump-Thing, in the pages of Cerebus. The 1990s introduced more parodies, including Swamp Beast in Harvey Comics' Monster in My Pocket and Man-Thang and Swamp-Thang in Marvel's What The--?!. References Category:1940 short storiesCategory:Horror short storiesCategory:Short stories by Theodore SturgeonCategory:Works originally published in Unknown (magazine)